Big Leaguers Notebook: Oct. 4

Rangers' Young credits heritage, family for his work ethic

 Seven-time All-Star Michael Young is known for his work ethic on the field and in the community, a trait that he credits to his Mexican-American heritage.

"Who I am today comes from a product of where I came from as a kid and the people I grew up with," said Young, who grew up in a Spanish-speaking boxing family with a Caucasian father and Hispanic mother. "In boxing, the thing that separates fighters is character and desire. I was able to kind of use that to my credit in baseball. I learned that at a really, really young age."

Young's favorite parts of Hispanic culture are the close bonds and loyalty between family members, something that shows in his clubhouse leadership, his charitable foundation and his relationship with his wife, Cristina, and their two sons, Emilio and Mateo.

 When C.J. Wilson was nine years old, he fell in love with a magazine photo of a Ferrari Testarossa and wrote a promise to his mother that someday "I will play Major League Baseball, and I will drive awesome cars." (FOX Sports Southwest)

A few Porsches and an All-Star appearance later, Wilson has accomplished his mission, but he's not stopping there. In his free time, the left-hander studies screenwriting, photography and Eastern philosophy, plays the guitar, owns a production company, writes clever blogs and tweets, surfs, runs baseball clinics in South Africa and drives racecars. (MLB.com)

"There are 24 hours in a day," said Wilson. "I'm always trying to reinvent that to make time for other stuff because I feel like life's really short." (Los Angeles Times)

"You got to represent," said Kinsler, who's hoping that the shirt will help bring another trophy to Texas. "World champs, and we want to be the same thing, so I'm going to rock the championship shirt." (FOX Sports Southwest)

 With postseason wins on the line, superstitious players are doing whatever it takes to keep good luck on their side. Pitcher Max Scherzer wore his shorts backwards to keep a scoreless streak alive, and the hot Tigers pitching staff has forbidden catcher Alex Avila from shaving his goatee.

"Say you have a 5-for-5 night, of course you're going to try to do everything the same the next day," said Nyjer Morgan, who wears "magical" baby blue argyle socks for luck at the plate. "Yes, I'm superstitious. Of course, all baseball players are superstitious." (Associated Press)

 John Axford has two big goals: Close out a World Series win for the Brewers and direct his own movie.

"I've always loved just being able to lose yourself in the film -- being able to relate or not to relate. Escape your reality and enter someone else's," said Axford, who has degree in film from Notre Dame and writes screenplays when he's not on the mound. "That's something I've always enjoyed about film, something that I think I'd want to try to do after baseball is done." (FOX Sports Wisconsin)

 Giants third baseman Mark DeRosa has moved from the hot corner to the press box as a guest postseason broadcaster on MLB Network.

"I love being around the game. I love talking baseball," said DeRosa, who will be joined by A's pitcher Dallas Braden. "I'm not a guy who goes home in the offseason and forgets about it. I religiously watch every playoff game and World Series. I've got a lot of friends after playing in the league a long time, and I've gotten to know a lot of guys around the league, so I feel like I have a feel for what makes them tick. Hopefully, I'll tell some stories [on the air]." (San Francisco Chronicle).

 A.J. Pierzynski will also be in the booth as an on-air analyst for FOX Sports during the ALCS and World Series.
(MLB.com)

Tweet of the Day: "Time to tailgate w/ some of my #BPFansShawty but just don't know where!!!! #WhoDey" -- Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips (@DatDudeBP), who joined his fans for some tailgating before Cincinnati's hometown Bengals took on the Buffalo Bills (Twitter)

Quote of the Day: "We'd love to face each other in the postseason. That would be the ultimate, but we've got a lot of work to do to get there." -- Rays outfielder B.J. Upton on the very special possibility of facing his brother, D-backs outfielder Justin Upton, in this year's World Series. (MLB.com)

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.